Arm Candy
Archives for 2013
The Creative Process
It involves a 20-pound tabby sleeping on my arm as I type.
The New Dolce & Gabbana Smoky Smooth Eye Colour Quad Puts My Inner Corvette in Neutral and Drives Me Wild
I love the new neutral Dolce & Gabbana Smoky Smooth Eye Colour Quad ($59) like…like Mariah loves wind machines. Like Iron Man loves tinkering. Like Portlandia loves bird motifs (“Put a bird on it!”). Like Ben Affleck loves beards. Like drag queens love contouring…
For me, good neutral quads are like tropical vacations. They just make everything better. 🙂
When I’m stumped for what to wear with crazy colors like that hot pink glitter over there (ooh!) or that matte red blush over there (ah!), I’ll go with one, two — or when I’m feeling more adventurous — three or four neutrals on my eyes.
Why?
Because they go with everything!
But…
…not all neutral quads get it right.
Sometimes, there are problems with the powders, and the shadows end up on my cheeks. Other times, they’re way too pigmented, or not pigmented enough, or they pull a David Copperfield and disappear right before my eyes, or they’re just annoyingly chalky.
But the matte black, pearly neutral gold, shimmery chocolate brown and shimmery golden beige in Dolce & Gabbana’s Smoky Quad do WERK!
Curl, Interrupted: The Revlon Perfect Heat Tourmaline Ceramic 1 1/2” Styling Iron
I’ve been the beneficiary of a few hair compliments lately (thank you!), but I do feel obliged to point out that, left to its wild, unchecked state, my natural locks look a little something like this…
And this…
At one time I estimated that I’d spent approximately one quarter of my life growing out botched haircuts.
Why so much time?
Because my hair! — it’s so moody! It’s the frizzy, slightly-wavy-but-not-curly and hella heavy mop on top of my head, man, and it’s moody like Tabs on Monday morning.
It wasn’t until I was in my 30s that I figured out some reliable ways to regularly wrangle it into submission.
Finding a stylist who knew what to do with my mop, and could show me how to do it myself, made the biggest difference.
Her name was Alis Peralta, and she works over at A-Line Salon out here in Corte Madera, California. Getting some good styling tools, like the $17 Revlon Perfect Heat Tourmaline Ceramic 1 1/2″ Styling Iron, helped, too.
Pencil in Time With Dolce & Gabbana’s Graphite Intense Khol Eye Crayon
“A storm’s brewin’…”
I always wanted to say that. 🙂 Storms are brewing within Dolce & Gabbana’s new $30 Graphite pencil — a rain cloud of a blackened gray liner for lash and water lines, and my new gunmetal gray liner love.
There’s something almost meteorological about this deep, dark gunmetal… Micro flecks of shimmer dance along its surface like little lightning sparks.
It’s quite the Gothic scene, too, like a sweet lace dress with black leather cuffs and spikes — the perfect marriage of delicate and dangerous. Classic with an edge. Kittens with claws.
[Continue reading…]
China Glaze Texture Collection
T-Money
A Two-Brush Makeup Tutorial: An Easy Look With Golden Brown Eyes, Peach Cheeks and Coral Lips to Wear to Brunch, a Hot Date or the Office
Guess who didn’t realize that she left all of her makeup brushes at home until she was two hours into a three-hour drive to Redding from the Bay Area last weekend?
Go on, guess. Her name starts with “K.”
“Kar…”
Here’s a hint: she was supposed to be going to a fancy schmancy Mother’s Day brunch with her hub’s family.
“Kare…”
Yup! Yours truly. So when we got into town I had El Hub take me to the nearest MAC counter to pick up some emergency supplies, namely a Veluxe Brow Liner in Deep Dark Brunette, a 224 Tapered Brush and a 109 Small Contour Brush.
Seeing as how I usually use at least half a dozen different brushes for most of my real-deal makeup looks, it was actually kind of fun seeing what I could do with just one eye brush and a face brush.
Didn’t turn out half bad! — so I thought I’d write it down. 🙂
A two-brush makeup tutorial for a Mother’s Day brunch-tested look with gold, brown and coral.
If you’re blazing through your makeup without a minute to spare and have to apply multiple products with the same brush…
- Begin by applying the lightest products first
- Quickly clean the brush head a bit between products, swiping it back and forth across a dry paper towel
- Try to stick to products with similar formulas — powders with powders and creams with creams
You most definitely do not have to use these same brushes or products for something like this. If you don’t have anything here, swap it out for a product from your stash.
- Apply your foundation and concealer with your fingers
- Apply a base all over your lids with your shimmery copper eye shadow stick
- Blend! — with a finger
- Highlight the inner corners of your eyes with your shimmery light golden eye shadow stick
- Fill in your brows
- Load a tapered blending brush with face powder to set your under-eye concealer
- Sweep your shimmery golden powder eye shadow all over your lids with the same brush
- Blend your shimmery dark brown powder eye shadow into the outer corners of your eyes with the same brush
- Line your upper and lower water lines
- Coat your upper and lower lashes with mascara
- Cut down on the shine by loading your face brush with face powder and applying that to your forehead, nose and chin
- Sweep a matte bronzer below your cheekbones and around the edge of your face and jawline with the same brush for contouring
- With the same brush, apply a peach blush to the apples of your cheeks
- Still with the same brush, dust a peachy bronze highlighter on your upper cheeks
- Add a coral lipstick…
- Now give yourself a hand because you’re done! 🙂